Search This Blog

Monday, 29 August 2011

Aural Terrains: Space and Meaning

After visiting the Audio Foundation we had several potential places
to send up a number of different installations. However there was one
space in particular which we noticed that captivated us. In the foyer
area at the base of the already quite spooky and atmospheric stairwell
was a slat doorway leading to an unused warehouse space. The area was
inaccessible and did not belong to 'The Audio Foundation', but rather
the adjoining 'Tie Factory building.

We
built an idea around this area whilst an application to the Tie Factory
to use their space was processed. Basically with the knowledge that
the installation would be observed at night time, we were going to take
the already dark malevolent nature of the space and supplement it with a
five minute track of our own.

We
wanted to create something really simple and do it well. As opposed to
involving a strong visual aspect or an interactive element, we wanted
to create a static sculpture of sound not unlike the work of sound
artist Rachel Shearer -who had been a guest lecturer in the weeks
prior. We wanted this pre-recording to have a life of its own and to
complement the area in a way that it was engaging enough as a
stand-alone body of work.

We
wanted to invoke a sense of anxiety and distress as opposed to
recreating a typical scene from a horror movie. We liked the idea of
things being hidden away in a closet and forgotten about, this in turn
posed the question of what happens to discarded memories and ideas.
Behind closed doors where the inaccessible lives can things take on a
life of their own. The powerless feeling that comes along with a lack
of understanding is a strongly unnerving emotional response. This lent
itself well to the space we had chosen and gave us a basic framework for
which to theme our five minute track.

After
confirmation from the Tie Factory, we started planning what exactly
each member of the group had to accomplish and contribute to the final
proceedings. As we had a larger group which was negotiated whilst
planning the surround sound-heavy talk-box idea, it was important that
we demonstrated that each member of the team was pulling their weight.

We
built this graph to provide a common visual reference of exactly where
across the five minute track we wanted to build energy, and where we
wanted to drop and re-engage any wandering ears. It proved absolutely
essential in the construction process, and in hindsight following the
graph made our individual tracks integrate seamlessly.

As
a functional method of gathering the necessary sound clips to collate
into our finished track; we each took a section of the whole contextual
idea to research and scavenge. The raw individual aspects which we
thought suited the area and therefore the mood of the piece were
formed. They were:

-Atmospheric
bass noise. Frequencies that provided the backbone of the piece.
Undetectable resonant tones to try and give our observers that privkly
feeling up the back of their neck.

-Wet
creepy noises. These were aimed to give the feeling of discomfort
associated with being in wet uncontrollable conditions, and to further
provide a dank and dangerous backdrop.

-Spooky
background noise. Closest of the group to fitting the horror genre.
These would continually disturb and build heavily to the climax and
crescendo of the piece. This aspect I was personally in charge of.

-Alien noises. To harness the unknown and alien nature embodied in the context of our work. These would be more unfamiliar and erratic than the previous aspects, often aiming to startle and unsettle the audience.

-Speech. Along with the alien noises this would be the most provocative of the tracks.
It would encapsulate certain ideals or topics that have been swept
under the rug -that society has chosen to disregard. It provided
another dimension to the piece and made it a little more human.